Do I Laugh or Cry?
by Darkbloodz
Summary: Sample: "Wiping off the steam Ren couldn't believe the sight that greeted him. He was so shocked that he let out a manly scream which jolted Kyoko out of her sleep. Backing away from the mirror, Ren held his hands to his head in horror." What leads up to this and what happens after? Read and find out!
1. Black Magic

**Hello again, I'm back for this little, most likely unoriginal, story as a request from . It took me a few months to agree with anything so that this story won't seem so farfetched but in the end, I drove myself in circles so without further ado, please proceed to the following disclaimer =P**

**Disclaimer: I will never, ever, ever own Skip Beat!**

**Chapter 1: Black Magic**

Signing for the umpteenth time today, Ren walked down the bustling street form the hotel. Dressed as Cain Heel, he tried to keep up the aura of danger the character is supposed to exude. Of course, even with him signing away, everyone kept their distance like they were supposed to. Today was Friday and filming for Black Jack ended two days ago. So, in all respect today was technically the last day for the Heel siblings to be together and after a few hours of pictures and extra shots Ren was feeling exhausted. Not to mention he still hadn't figured out what to do for Kyoko on their last night together. Not that it was easy controlling himself when Setsu's entire wardrobe consisted of revealing this and that and all sorts of attention getters. But alas I digress.

Still in deep thought, Ren continued on the well-known path through the alley towards the bar he had found on one of his less controllable nights with Setsu, his beloved 'sister'. God, he still remembered that picture and he never wants _anyone_ to see his Kyoko dressed like that again,… well except for himself of course. Coming to a stop in from of the entrance to the inconspicuous bar, Ren stopped to regain his bearings as Cain before stepping in. Seeing as he was practically a regular at the place now, Cain made his way over to an empty stool in a corner by the bar and the bartender sent a shot of scotch to him. That was all Cain ever got. One shot every night for the past three weeks he had been coming to the bar. Tonight though, Ren needed some more courage so he signaled the bartender for another, and another… and another. His drinking rampage was paused when his cell phone rang with Kyoko's special ring tone. After he decided not to pick up, the phone stopped at four rings. He though she would quit after that but then his phone wen off again. He had forgotten about her abnormal imagination when it comes to him. He groaned, paid his bill, and left all in the span of three rings before answering on his way out of the alley.

With a gruff voice dripping with frustration he answered, "What is it Setsu?" He began his trek back to the hotel.

"Um, nothing brother," She squeaked. "You've been gone for a while so I was just wondering if everything was ok, I'll hang up now, bye!" Kyoko spoke quickly feeling his anger and frustration through the phone. _Why is he mad, did I do something?_ Of course, Kyoko being Kyoko she couldn't help but think it was all her fault.

Looking at his phone Ren cursed under his breath at her tone knowing full well that he had some damage control to do when he got back. He picked up his pace with his hands in his pockets and his signature 'Cain' glare out for the world to fear. Going around the last bend, he passed a rather large dumpster with an old woman muttering to herself sitting by it. He got goose bumps when his eyes met hers and he felt a tingling all over his body but decided to ignore it and hunched his shoulders, continuing on his not so merry way.

When Ren finally got back to the hotel room (he had decided the long way wouldn't kill anyone), he went to the bathroom for a shower seeing as Kyoko fell asleep waiting for him to eat dinner. After he finished everything, Ren stepped up to the mirror. Wiping off the steam Ren couldn't believe the sight that greeted him. He was so shocked that he let out a manly scream which jolted Kyoko out of her sleep. Backing away from the mirror, Ren held his hands to his head in horror.

**Thank you for taking the time to read my newest story! Advice and creative criticism is appreciated.**


	2. Reverse

**Thank you all who took the time to read this story. I never thought this was going to get so much attention. I hope I continue to give you all something to enjoy (without leaving really big cliff hangers :P) As always, I appreciate any advice you have to give.**

**Also, I would like to say that the ideas that you guys were coming up with were quite entertaining and certainly would make a great story.**

**Kudos to Perfect Beauty who hit the nail on the head! A gift for you: pixel cookie!**

**Disclaimer: I will never, ever, ever own Skip Beat!**

**Chapter 2: Reverse**

Jolting out of her sleep, Kyoko fell out of the small twin bed she as dreaming on at the sound of a yell coming from the bathroom. Running over to the bathroom door, Kyoko tried to open it to find that the door was locked. Pounding on the door in panic she yelled, "Tsuruga-san, are you ok? What's going on in there?" She tried rattling the door handle again but all she could hear was a groan coming from the other side. Imagining the worst, Kyoko started ramming her shoulders into the door in a vain attempt to break it open. She stopped as she heard a small voice float to her ears from the inside.

"I, I'm fine Mogami-san. Please stop trying to break the door." She blushed at that statement. But seconds later the color faded as she realized what he sounded like.

"Tsuruga-san, are you ok? What happened? You sound like you saw something terrible. Is everything ok in there?" She repeated his name again as she put her ears to the door.

"No, I'm fine Mogami-san. Please, do me a favor and c-call the President." His voice sounded weak and far away and Kyoko had a hard time moving away from the door to fulfill his request.

Hastily pressing the speed dial on her cell, Kyoko's hands shook as she went to sit down on the bed. With a cheerful greeting, the President answered the phone only to sober up at the tone of her voice. "P-President-san, there's s-something wrong with Tsuruga-san. He holed himself up in the bathroom and won't come out! He is asking for you, he sounds terrible. I was asleep when his scream woke me up. Please come soon President-san!" Kyoko half wailed into the phone and as soon as she was done there was an 'I'm on my way' from Lory before the phone was shut off with a click.

Getting up, Kyoko went back to the door, putting her ears to it. "Tsuruga-san, the President is on his way. Is there anything I can get you by the time? Medicine or some water? Please tell me what is wrong?" Getting no answer after a few moments, she instead opted to sit on the bed waiting for the knock that would signify the arrival of President Lory.

Meanwhile, in the bathroom our favorite actor is sweating bullets while also feeling guilty for making Kyoko worry so much.

_Honestly, how can I tell her anything? I don't even know what happened? Was there something in the water? What kind of crap is this?_

Panicking by himself, Ren took another look in the mirror before schooling his expression, berating himself for being so foolish. Granted he's still in shock and scared beyond belief that something like this happened but he had to calm himself down. _If not for myself then at least for Kyoko_, he told himself.

Touching his face, Ren marveled at how much younger he looked now and just how _different_ he looked compared to his current 'Tsuruga Ren'. Staring back at him was not the man he was when he walked out of the door. Instead there was a 16 year old Kuon staring back at him, blonde hair, blue eyes, and all. _I'm amazed I didn't notice the height difference right away._

While Ren was doing his comparisons, there was a faint knock on the room door.

Hearing the knock on the door, Kyoko sped to open it, not even bothering to check and make sure the person on the other side really was who she was expecting. When she saw Lory standing there, she gave a low bow and pointed to the door and made her way back to the bed. "He's in there," she said in an almost dejected tone. One might think she was just sulking if we didn't know how worried she really is.

Knocking on the bathroom door, Lory gently called out to Ren, trying to coax something out of him. "Ren, I'm here. Open the door and let me see what the problem is."

Slowly, very hesitantly, Ren opened the door, using it to hide from Kyoko. Lory poked his head in to try and see what was going on that was so important when he reeled back in surprise and shock. Going back in, he whispered "How did that happen?" The door shut behind him as he walked in.

Sitting on the bed, Kyoko was left puzzled at the actions of the President. Especially since whatever Ren didn't want her to see shocked the President so much. _ I wonder what it could be…_

And so Kyoko stifled her curiosity and set out to make a little meal just in case Ren really was sick to the point of being scared out of his mind.

**At first I was going to put the rest of it but I decided to stop it here instead. I don't think I did very well for this chapter now that I've read it over but it is all I can do for now.**

**I will be going away to school for about a year and will have very little if any internet access and computer time while I am there. It is with great regret that I say goodbye to fanfiction and my dear readers for the next year or so. However, I will continue to write my stories on paper and probably go on an updating free-for-all when I get back.**

**Again, thanks for all of you who have read, favorite-d, and alerted to my stories. **


	3. Change of Plans

**Hey there, thanks for all of you who have been subscribing, favorite-ing, and reviewing this story. I have to say it got more attention than I predicted. Please enjoy this next installment and I hope that it was worth the wait.**

**DISCLAIMER: I will never, ever, ever own Skip Beat!**

**Chapter 3: Change of Plans**

Kyoko sat on her bed occasionally glancing at the clock on the far wall. She had been watching the hands go by, listening to the tick-tock-ing that announced the time passing away. Seconds, minutes, nearly two hours had gone by and still not a single peep came from the bathroom as she sat there nervously fidgeting. She had to once again fight the urge to go put her ears to the door just in case she was to get caught snooping at whatever her revered senpai didn't want her involved in. Many times she had gotten up to clean the non-existent mess that was in the kitchen. Other times she had flitted about asking Sebastian, who was waiting patiently by the door, if he wanted something to eat or drink. The man would just shake his head then continue standing there like a statue. The soup she made earlier for Ren sat covered on the counter forgotten since the door hadn't been opened as of yet.

The clock struck midnight and Kyoko fell backwards on the bed with a huff, trying to banish all of the terrible images that her ever creative brain conjured up in the deafening silence. Some had her shaking in fear imagining that Ren had taken a nasty fall and got terribly hurt. Others – though less convincing – had her thinking Ren had finally cracked under the words of Murasame. So many thoughts were going through her head, she thought it may explode.

**- Inside the Bathroom -**

Lory leaned against the counter across from Ren as he studied the actor. He looked shaken up and so unlike the calm and composed Ren that it was almost amusing to say the least. He kept glancing up at the mirror almost like he was expecting to see his old self again instead of what always stared back at him. Honestly, it's quite something to actually become his 16 year old self again without so much as a clue how. It was just out of this world.

"As puzzling and strange as it is, would you please stop acting like a kicked puppy?! You're still mentally the same age, act like it boy! And until we can figure this out, we have to come up with a plan." Lory began pacing the short expanse of the bathroom as his brain whirled in an attempt to come up with a good enough plan to hide Ren until this thing can be solved. _We can't even do a little make-up and call it a day. He looks difference physically and no doubt he'd be paranoid. He's at least a good half-foot shorter and his hair is blonde again._ "Ren, did you take off the contacts before you got in the shower? And did you dye your hair at all?"

"No, I didn't do anything to my hair. And I was so tired I forgot to take my contacts off but I don't feel them in there now… How in the world could this have happened? What am I going to tell Kyoko? I can't just avoid her until this thing goes away and what about my work? I have too much lined up to be rescheduled on such short notice! Boss what do we do?" At this point, Ren was whispering feverishly, desperately trying to cling to some sanity while wracking his brains for ideas.

"Ok Ren, well you look too different to actually continue to work. I will contact everyone to let them know that you are extremely ill and will not be able to work for a while. I don't know what else to do, what with the height difference and all. Now it is your choice whether you want to include Mogami-kun or Yashiro in this. I'll call Jelly and have her see to your new contacts and hair again. In the meantime, there is an extremely worried Kyoko out there who has not heard anything from us for a good while. What do you want me to tell her?"

The dread in Ren's eyes spoke volumes but in the end he heaved a heavy sign. "I suppose it would be best to tell her. Better that than have her in hysterics about what could possibly be wrong with me." Lory smiled as he turned to go out the door.

"Ok then, I'll let her know what's going to happen to your schedule and then I'll go. Jelly will be waiting downstairs in about a half hour and I will have a car there as well. Whatever you do Ren, don't go overboard ok? You never know what is going to happen with that girl." With that he carefully walked out of the bathroom and closed the door behind him.

Kyoko sat up when she heard the bathroom door open but was disappointed that only the President walked out. "President-san, is everything ok? What happened to Tsuruga-san?" At this point she was standing up with her hands clasped to her chest, eyes gleaming with some kind of hope.

Lory chuckled at her seemingly desperate plea saying, "Sorry to have kept you waiting Mogami-kun, Ren is all right. Just had a little scare with his reflection, *chuckles* not to worry my girl, all is well. In a half hour Jelly will be down in the basement waiting for you guys as well as a car to take you two to his apartment. I hope I can count on you to take care of Ren until he is feeling better. He will be out in a bit to explain everything to you in a little bit. But for now, please tell me you will accept this job for me? As he is now, Ren will not be able to do any work much less leave his apartment until we get this situation figured out. I will work with Yashiro to clear his schedule until further notice. You will continue your own schedule as is of course, however I will clear you for this weekend so that Ren can thoroughly explain things to you and you can have some time to think about it. Well, do you accept?"

Kyoko stood there dumbly for a second, trying to process just how bad it might be that the President would clear Ren's schedule for an unmentionable amount of time. "Uh… h-hai, I'll take care of Tsuruga-san!"

Satisfied with her answer, Lory waved a goodbye and walked out of the door with Sebastian right behind him. She went and closed the door behind them and then hurried to the kitchen to reheat the near forgotten soup. While it was heating she set out the utensils on a small table near the beds and put some water to boil for tea. When the soup was done she placed that on the table as well and went to make a cup of tea for herself and a cup of coffee for Ren.

As she set the cups down on the table she heard the bathroom door open. Kyoko's head snapped up immediately and couldn't help but gape at what she assumed was her senpai coming out dejectedly from the bathroom with his robe on looking a tad bit larger on him than she last remembered. _Wait a minute! These measurements aren't right, who is this? What happened to Tsuruga-san?! This person is too short and not as muscular. What is going on here?_

**Thank you for taking the time to read my work! Advice and creative criticism is appreciated. I would love to hear all of your opinions, suggestions, and anything you would like to see happen with our favorite love-stupid couple =]**


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